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Monday, April 09, 2012

An early look at Ivy Bridge motherboards: or, the side order without the main

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/09/an-early-look-at-ivy-bridge-motherboards/

Ssshh. Ivy Bridge is officially still a mystery, remember? Nevertheless, through some quirk of chronology, the accompanying Z77 chipset for motherboards has already been announced. If there's a reason for this early entrance, it's probably because Z77 is backwards compatible with Sandy Bridge, which means that the latest crop of motherboards from Asus, Gigabyte, Intel and MSI can be considered fully-fledged products in their own right. Well, kind of, anyway. In reality, some of the key selling points of Z77 won't get activated until you clamp on Ivy Bridge silicon -- including PCIe 3.0 support (hitherto only found on X79 big-momma-boards), so the real testing can't begin in earnest until the new kid arrives. With that caveat out of the way, read on for a quick review round-up.

Continue reading An early look at Ivy Bridge motherboards: or, the side order without the main

An early look at Ivy Bridge motherboards: or, the side order without the main originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 13:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/09/15-inch-samsung-series-9-review-2012/

Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3A) laptop review

Samsung unveils redesigned Series 9 laptops with 13- and 15-inch displays, starting at $1,399

Spotted: the elusive 15-inch Samsung Series 9

Before there were Ultrabooks, there was the Samsung Series 9. When it arrived on the scene last year, measuring .64 inches thick, weighing 2.8 pounds and packing a blazing SSD, it seemed to offer Windows users the closest thing to a no-compromise experience -- provided, of course, they were willing to pony up the requisite $1,649. As it turns out, the Series 9 was great -- memorable, even -- but not without flaws. It lacked an SD slot, the trackpad was jumpy and the display resolution topped out at a humdrum 1366 x 768.

A year later, Samsung is back with a second-generation laptop that promises to correct all of these shortcomings, and ushers in an even thinner, even lighter design. Make that two laptops: Sammy's selling a 15-inch Ultrabook, too. And truly, there's nothing quite like it: nothing quite this thin, with this large a screen. (Consider for a moment that it measures just .08 ! inches t hicker than the new 13-inch Series 9, which is already thinner than most other Ultrabooks on the market.) As always, though, luxury doesn't come cheap. The 15-inch Series 9 will cost $1,500 when it ships at the end of this month (the 13-inch version is available for an also-pricey $1,400, though we haven't gotten to take that model for a spin yet.) Ultimately, then, are the Series 9's elegant aluminum design and 1600 x 900 matte display enough to justify the premium you'll pay over other Ultrabooks? And does the 15-inch version offer long enough battery life to match its larger size? Let's find out.

Gallery: 15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012)

Continue reading 15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012)

15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumored LG D1L targets high-end with dual-core Snapdragon and LTE

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/09/rumored-lg-d1l-targets-high-end-with-dual-core-snapdragon-and-lt/

If a spiritual and titular successor to LG's Optimus 2X has you a little hesitant, then maybe its rumored relative the D1L might make you feel more comfortable. The spec sheet makes it clear that this machine is a high-end affair, though it trades in the 4X HD's quad-core Tegra 3 for a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 and an LTE radio. Otherwise it sounds quite a bit like that other LG flagship announced at MWC, including a 4.7-inch 720p display and Ice Cream Sandwich. Of course, there's no guarantee such a phone will ever see the light of day, none the less here in the US. Lets just hope if and when the D1L lands, it does so with fewer bugs than the much maligned G2X.

Rumored LG D1L targets high-end with dual-core Snapdragon and LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google's Android emulator gets updated with GPU support, better CPU performance

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/09/googles-android-emulator-gets-updated-with-gpu-support-better/

Google brought some improvements to its Android emulator when it updated the SDK last month, but it's now back with an even bigger update that's sure to please developers. The latest version finally adds built-in GPU support, which Google says will help the emulator better keep pace with current smartphones that rely so heavily on GPUs themselves. Along with that, Google is also promising better performance across the board (including improved CPU performance), as well as emulation of more hardware features, including the ability to tap into the sensors and multitouch input of a tethered Android device (Bluetooth and NFC support are apparently next in line). Head on past the break for a quick video showing off some of the improvements, and hit the source link below for the full rundown on all the updates.

Continue reading Google's Android emulator gets updated with GPU support, better CPU performance

Google's Android emulator gets updated with GPU support, better CPU performance originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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